|
SHOWING WHAT HAPPENED ON THE VOYAGE FROM SINGAPORE TO HONG
KONG
The detective and Passepartout met often on deck after this
interview, though Fix was reserved, and did not attempt to induce
his companion to divulge any more facts concerning Mr. Fogg. He
caught a glimpse of that mysterious gentleman once or twice; but
Mr. Fogg usually confined himself to the cabin, where he kept
Aouda company, or, according to his inveterate habit, took a hand
at whist.
Passepartout began very seriously to conjecture what strange
chance kept Fix still on the route that his master was pursuing.
It was really worth considering why this certainly very amiable
and complacent person, whom he had first met at Suez, had then
encountered on board the Mongolia, who disembarked at Bombay,
which he announced as his destination, and now turned up so unexpectedly
on the Rangoon, was following Mr. Fogg's tracks step by step.
What was Fix's object? Passepartout was ready to wager his Indian
shoes--which he religiously preserved--that Fix would also leave
Hong Kong at the same time with them, and probably on the same
steamer.
Passepartout might have cudgelled his brain for a century without
hitting upon the real object which the detective had in view.
He never could have imagined that Phileas Fogg was being tracked
as a robber around the globe. But, as it is in human nature to
attempt the solution of every mystery, Passepartout suddenly discovered
an explanation of Fix's movements, which was in truth far from
unreasonable. Fix, he thought, could only be an agent of Mr. Fogg's
friends at the Reform Club, sent to follow him up, and to ascertain
that he really went round the world as had been agreed upon.
"It's clear!" repeated the worthy servant to himself,
proud of his shrewdness. "He's a spy sent to keep us in view!
That isn't quite the thing, either, to be spying Mr. Fogg, who
is so honourable a man! Ah, gentlemen of the Reform, this shall
cost you dear!"
Passepartout, enchanted with his discovery, resolved to say
nothing to his master, lest he should be justly offended at this
mistrust on the part of his adversaries. But he determined to
chaff Fix, when he had the chance, with mysterious allusions,
which, however, need not betray his real suspicions.
During the afternoon of Wednesday, 30th October, the Rangoon
entered the Strait of Malacca, which separates the peninsula of
that name from Sumatra. The mountainous and craggy islets intercepted
the beauties of this noble island from the view of the travellers.
The Rangoon weighed anchor at Singapore the next day at four a.m.,
to receive coal, having gained half a day on the prescribed time
of her arrival. Phileas Fogg noted this gain in his journal, and
then, accompanied by Aouda, who betrayed a desire for a walk on
shore, disembarked.
Fix, who suspected Mr. Fogg's every movement, followed them
cautiously, without being himself perceived; while Passepartout,
laughing in his sleeve at Fix's manoeuvres, went about his usual
errands.
The island of Singapore is not imposing in aspect, for there
are no mountains; yet its appearance is not without attractions.
It is a park checkered by pleasant highways and avenues. A handsome
carriage, drawn by a sleek pair of New Holland horses, carried
Phileas Fogg and Aouda into the midst of rows of palms with brilliant
foliage, and of clove-trees, whereof the cloves form the heart
of a half-open flower. Pepper plants replaced the prickly hedges
of European fields; sago-bushes, large ferns with gorgeous branches,
varied the aspect of this tropical clime; while nutmeg-trees in
full foliage filled the air with a penetrating perfume. Agile
and grinning bands of monkeys skipped about in the trees, nor
were tigers wanting in the jungles.
After a drive of two hours through the country, Aouda and Mr.
Fogg returned to the town, which is a vast collection of heavy-looking,
irregular houses, surrounded by charming gardens rich in tropical
fruits and plants; and at ten o'clock they re-embarked, closely
followed by the detective, who had kept them constantly in sight.
Passepartout, who had been purchasing several dozen mangoes--
a fruit as large as good-sized apples, of a dark-brown colour
outside and a bright red within, and whose white pulp, melting
in the mouth, affords gourmands a delicious sensation--was waiting
for them on deck. He was only too glad to offer some mangoes to
Aouda, who thanked him very gracefully for them.
At eleven o'clock the Rangoon rode out of Singapore harbour,
and in a few hours the high mountains of Malacca, with their forests,
inhabited by the most beautifully-furred tigers in the world,
were lost to view. Singapore is distant some thirteen hundred
miles from the island of Hong Kong, which is a little English
colony near the Chinese coast. Phileas Fogg hoped to accomplish
the journey in six days, so as to be in time for the steamer which
would leave on the 6th of November for Yokohama, the principal
Japanese port.
The Rangoon had a large quota of passengers, many of whom disembarked
at Singapore, among them a number of Indians, Ceylonese, Chinamen,
Malays, and Portuguese, mostly second-class travellers.
The weather, which had hitherto been fine, changed with the
last quarter of the moon. The sea rolled heavily, and the wind
at intervals rose almost to a storm, but happily blew from the
south-west, and thus aided the steamer's progress. The captain
as often as possible put up his sails, and under the double action
of steam and sail the vessel made rapid progress along the coasts
of Anam and Cochin China. Owing to the defective construction
of the Rangoon, however, unusual precautions became necessary
in unfavourable weather; but the loss of time which resulted from
this cause, while it nearly drove Passepartout out of his senses,
did not seem to affect his master in the least. Passepartout blamed
the captain, the engineer, and the crew, and consigned all who
were connected with the ship to the land where the pepper grows.
Perhaps the thought of the gas, which was remorselessly burning
at his expense in Saville Row, had something to do with his hot
impatience.
"You are in a great hurry, then," said Fix to him
one day, "to reach Hong Kong?"
"A very great hurry!"
"Mr. Fogg, I suppose, is anxious to catch the steamer
for Yokohama?"
"Terribly anxious."
"You believe in this journey around the world, then?"
"Absolutely. Don't you, Mr. Fix?"
"I? I don't believe a word of it."
"You're a sly dog!" said Passepartout, winking at
him.
This expression rather disturbed Fix, without his knowing why.
Had the Frenchman guessed his real purpose? He knew not what to
think. But how could Passepartout have discovered that he was
a detective? Yet, in speaking as he did, the man evidently meant
more than he expressed.
Passepartout went still further the next day; he could not
hold his tongue.
"Mr. Fix," said he, in a bantering tone, "shall
we be so unfortunate as to lose you when we get to Hong Kong?"
"Why," responded Fix, a little embarrassed, "I
don't know; perhaps--"
"Ah, if you would only go on with us! An agent of the
Peninsular Company, you know, can't stop on the way! You were
only going to Bombay, and here you are in China. America is not
far off, and from America to Europe is only a step."
Fix looked intently at his companion, whose countenance was
as serene as possible, and laughed with him. But Passepartout
persisted in chaffing him by asking him if he made much by his
present occupation.
"Yes, and no," returned Fix; "there is good
and bad luck in such things. But you must understand that I don't
travel at my own expense."
"Oh, I am quite sure of that!" cried Passepartout,
laughing heartily.
Fix, fairly puzzled, descended to his cabin and gave himself
up to his reflections. He was evidently suspected; somehow or
other the Frenchman had found out that he was a detective. But
had he told his master? What part was he playing in all this:
was he an accomplice or not? Was the game, then, up? Fix spent
several hours turning these things over in his mind, sometimes
thinking that all was lost, then persuading himself that Fogg
was ignorant of his presence, and then undecided what course it
was best to take.
Nevertheless, he preserved his coolness of mind, and at last
resolved to deal plainly with Passepartout. If he did not find
it practicable to arrest Fogg at Hong Kong, and if Fogg made preparations
to leave that last foothold of English territory, he, Fix, would
tell Passepartout all. Either the servant was the accomplice of
his master, and in this case the master knew of his operations,
and he should fail; or else the servant knew nothing about the
robbery, and then his interest would be to abandon the robber.
Such was the situation between Fix and Passepartout. Meanwhile
Phileas Fogg moved about above them in the most majestic and unconscious
indifference. He was passing methodically in his orbit around
the world, regardless of the lesser stars which gravitated around
him. Yet there was near by what the astronomers would call a disturbing
star, which might have produced an agitation in this gentleman's
heart. But no! the charms of Aouda failed to act, to Passepartout's
great surprise; and the disturbances, if they existed, would have
been more difficult to calculate than those of Uranus which led
to the discovery of Neptune.
It was every day an increasing wonder to Passepartout, who
read in Aouda's eyes the depths of her gratitude to his master.
Phileas Fogg, though brave and gallant, must be, he thought, quite
heartless. As to the sentiment which this journey might have awakened
in him, there was clearly no trace of such a thing; while poor
Passepartout existed in perpetual reveries.
One day he was leaning on the railing of the engine-room, and
was observing the engine, when a sudden pitch of the steamer threw
the screw out of the water. The steam came hissing out of the
valves; and this made Passepartout indignant.
"The valves are not sufficiently charged!" he exclaimed.
"We are not going. Oh, these English! If this was an American
craft, we should blow up, perhaps, but we should at all events
go faster!"
|
